I know, I know, you want to be able to brag that your small business has a perfect five-star review rating from sites like Google, Facebook, Yelp, and TripAdvisor. That’ll just get more people to trust using your services and thus increase sales, right?

Nope. Not according to a study conducted by SmallBusinessPrices.co.uk. The study looked at how and where customers leave reviews for small businesses across multiple industries. It also looked at how trustworthy a business appears to potential customers based on their ratings. Rather surprisingly, more people will trust a business with a three-star or four-star average rating than they will one with an average five-star rating.

This is assumed to be because potential customers think three- and four-star ratings are more genuine, and that five-star rating could just be from a friend of the business. Matter of fact, five-star ratings are only trusted by 10% of customers, the study found, while 22% of people trust three-star ratings, and 35% of people trust four-star ratings.

So next time instead of aiming for that perfect five stars, maybe just ask customers to leave you a four-star rating instead. Your business could be better off because of it.